pH, gH, and kH: I hate my life.

This is a discussion on pH, gH, and kH: I hate my life. within the Beginner Freshwater Aquarium forums, part of the Freshwater Fish and Aquariums category; -->
Another product to look into is Aquavitro's &quot;Mineralize.&quot; It's owned by Seachem, but it's more of a high end thing, I found the bottles ...

Another product to look into is Aquavitro's "Mineralize." It's owned by Seachem, but it's more of a high end thing, I found the bottles reasonably priced however as you get a good amount.aquavitro . mineralizePosted via Mobile Device

Before you start adding products to increase minerals, you need to know what will be living in the tank. Some of the products mentioned are fine for increasing hardness for plants, but not fish (not enough). There are products for fish out there. And there is a less expensive way than using these, and that is a calcareous substance like dolomite or aragonite in the filter or as a substrate. Not all of what I've mentioned suits every situation, so first can you tell us exactly what fish, invertebrates and plants are intended. If the photo posted earlier in this thread is the tank, fine, all we need to know is what fish and/or invertebrates are intended.

I have near-zero GH and KH out of the tap. The two are usually close (in terms of being high or low), but as Quantum mentioned not always. And by the way, to sort out the terminology, GH refers to general hardness which to aquarists is the calcium and magnesium (primarily) mineral salts in the water, and this is what your test kits measure. TDS (total dissolved solids) is also a part of GH but not something tested by these kits, but i needn't get into that here. The KH is the carbonate or bicarbonate hardness, often called Alkalinity, which is what acts as a buffer to maintain a steady pH, and the higher the KH the stronger the buffer capacity. Attempts to adjust pH down will be futile unless the KH is first reduced. You can read more about how all this works together here:http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/f...quarium-73276/

You did mention shrimp initially, and these need calcium for their exoskeletons, so using magnesium will not suffice. But as I said, when we know what fish and invertebrates are intended, we can discuss specifics.

Thanks for your response, Byron. I had read your post over most of this stuff already, and it's really good stuff. I appreciate you sharing all of this information with us. I really didn't want to hijack your thread as I want to really narrow down what should be done in my tank.

The picture posted is indeed the one in question. The plants are aponogeton (bulbs from Wal-Mart), riccia fluitans, some sort of rotala, peacock moss, persicaria sp. kawagoeanum, and hydrocotyle. I know some of these plants are simply not compatible. Long story short: I picked up this hobby in May and my enthusiasm has far exceeded my knowledge.

As for livestock, there will be no fish. I will indeed only be keeping cherry shrimp in this tank. I've also realized that simply adding magnesium sulfate will not suffice if keeping shrimp. Although, I've seen suggestions of using Gypsum powder for a calcium supplement. I'm not sure why, but I feel more comfortable dosing the Shrimp Mineral Supplement rather than dosing these salts and powders, even though they may be the same.

However, I hope I can find a better solution than dosing. I'm going to test the water at work tonight, but I feel we probably have some kind of crazy filtering system as I work in a restaurant.

Thanks for your response, Byron. I had read your post over most of this stuff already, and it's really good stuff. I appreciate you sharing all of this information with us. I really didn't want to hijack your thread as I want to really narrow down what should be done in my tank.

The picture posted is indeed the one in question. The plants are aponogeton (bulbs from Wal-Mart), riccia fluitans, some sort of rotala, peacock moss, persicaria sp. kawagoeanum, and hydrocotyle. I know some of these plants are simply not compatible. Long story short: I picked up this hobby in May and my enthusiasm has far exceeded my knowledge.

As for livestock, there will be no fish. I will indeed only be keeping cherry shrimp in this tank. I've also realized that simply adding magnesium sulfate will not suffice if keeping shrimp. Although, I've seen suggestions of using Gypsum powder for a calcium supplement. I'm not sure why, but I feel more comfortable dosing the Shrimp Mineral Supplement rather than dosing these salts and powders, even though they may be the same.

However, I hope I can find a better solution than dosing. I'm going to test the water at work tonight, but I feel we probably have some kind of crazy filtering system as I work in a restaurant.

The shrimp product would seem best in your situation. It will probably help the plants too, as presently they have no calcium and magnesium. Some plants need less of this than others, or at least seem to manage with less, but they are essential minerals. I am assuming this is a fairly new setup?